Freeflyer
by Ely's Lullabye
Summary: Matt and Kate are grown up, married, and on their next great adventure, in their own small airship, along with Greggory, Maxine, and Wallace, their crew. But on this adventure the stakes are even higher... Collab with Strawberry-Chappy Forever
1. Three's a Crowd

Disclaimer - Airborn, sadly, is the property of Kenneth Oppel, not ourselves. However we desperately wish it were.  
Note - Collaboration with Strawberry-Chappy Forever

Chapter 1 - Three's a Crowd

I gazed out into the endless night, the stars singing their infatuating hymn to me. It wasn't audible anymore, as it had been inside the deep folds of outer space, but I could still remember the sound, hypnotizing, reverberating through my skull, whenever I saw those distant points of light.  
It had been years since I met Kate, and was pulled into a clash of pirate fights, scientific breakthroughs and even space travel, and, somehow, through all that we had managed to fall in love. It had been an awkward relationship to be sure, in fact my good friend Baz had once describes our relationship as having as much chance as a fish and a kangaroo. I asked him whether I was the fish or the kangaroo. I'm pretty sure that I was the fish. Fish and kangaroos aside, we fell in love. I can still remember our exact conversation after our ship had landed back on earth, when I, for the third time, had asked her to marry me. 'Yes,' she had said 'but it will be horrible.' 'Probably.' I had admitted. Well, we'd had our occasional fight, but the 'horrible' part hadn't set in yet. I'm sure we were both glad for the peace.  
Looking out into the night, I drew a deep breath and let it out again, glad that tomorrow morning, I would once again be sailing the skies in the small ship that I had acuired as soon as I was able to make enough money, of course with Kate's help, due to the proceedings from her scientific exhibitions. The _Borealis_, we called her proudly, as a namesake of the Aurora, the ship where we had first met. She was a small thing, to be sure, but the little airship floated across the skies like a dream, with some help from a schoolmate of Kate's, Greggory Donovan and his younger sister, Maxine. I hadn't met the sister yet, but I had met Grey on a few occasions, and he seemed extremely competent in his knowledge of airships, as well as zoology, his main area of expertise.  
We would be taking the _Borealis_ to follow the flight patterns of the cloud cats that Kate and I had played a large part in discovering some years ago. Kate wanted to get off the ground as soon as possible. I told her that our cats wouldn't just disappear out of the skies, but she insisted on taking to the skies before Sir Hugh Snuffler or any of his associates could snap up her precious research. I wasn't really much of one to complain. I'd been spending far too much time on the ground for my liking, lately.  
Suddenly, I was jolted out of my reverie by the loud slam of the hotel door. We were standing just outside of Lionsgate city for the night, to be close to the aerodrome, for tomorrow's big trip. The place that we had bought was out further in the country, where we could see the stars, an unobstructed view. Kate, it seemed, did not care if she disturbed the other visitors.  
"Matt!" She exclaimed. "I'm back! Are you ready yet?"  
I very nearly said 'You were gone?' but decided it would be a bad idea. Kate might take offence at that. Instead I said, "Kate-"  
I was cut off as she flung herself onto the bed beside me, kicking off her pointy-toed shoes with vengeance. "I HATE those shoes," she said, venom spiking her voice.  
I winced as one of the shoes flew dangerously close to my head.  
"Anyway, Grey and Max have just finished packing the ship, so we can take off immediately. Oh, there's a telegram for you." She tossed the folded slip of paper onto the bed beside me. Picking it up, I scanned the message, then stopped dead.  
"Uh, Kate, we may have to... er, postpone the trip." I gulped. My stars were being taken away even before I got to them? "Tobias sprained his ankle. And we need a navigator. I can't do every task on the ship at once."  
Kate grinned her devious grin, and I knew trouble was coming. That grin was never good. "I read that already. So I took the liberty of hiring us one for the trip!"  
"Hunh? Who?" I asked in surprise. I didn't have any contacts in Lionsgate City that could navigate, and neither did Kate as far as I knew.  
"You haven't noticed him yet?" she motioned towards the door and I nearly jumped out of my skin. And enormous man with salt and pepper grey hair and intimidating brown eyes stood in the doorway, having to stoop slightly to avoid hitting his head. He wore a slightly sour expression, as though someone was holding something rather unpleasant under his nose. "This is Mr. Wallace Davies!" Kate bubbled. "We met him down at the aerodrome looking for a job on a cargo ship, so I snatched him away before anyone else could get him!" She looked extremely proud of herself,as though she'd brought us a new puppy, or one of her 'scientific discoveries' which usually tried to eat, electrocute, or otherwise mutilate me.  
"A-all right." I stammered. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Davies."  
"Please," He growled, in a gravelly voice that could cause a landslide, "Call me Wallace."  
"Well, Wallace, then." I said, recollecting my nerves. "Welcome to the crew of the_ Borealis_."  
"Enchanted" he said in that same, heart-stopping voice.  
"Well then!" exclaimed Kate, oblivious to the mood that our new crew member had brought upon us. "Let's get going."  
I wondered how Tobias had sprained his ankle. He'd probably sat on another girl or something, I thought wryly, that or 'Wallace' had tripped him so he could get a job... I'd keep that in mind as a possibility. But first... "We're leaving now?"  
"Why not?" Asked Kate. "It's a lovely night, and Wallace doesn't have a place to stay until morning."  
"Fine, alright." I grumbled, getting up from the bed. Good thing I was still wearing my clothes from that afternoon. Pajamas would have been slightly more awkward. I grabbed the bag of equipment at the foot of the bed and stood, looking at Kate questioningly. She got up and led the way out the door, with Wallace following, and me trailing along afterwards, still feeling slightly bewildered.  
It wasn't until we had taken a cab, with Wallace hunched over awkwardly, and got out at the aerodrome that I noticed that Kate had left her shoes in our room. the grin on her face as we walked into the terminal told me that she had done it on purpose.  
I sighed. This would be a long trip. Our odd, mismatched trio made its way through the various docks until I could see Grey and a smaller shape I assumed to be Maxine waving at me from the dock of the _Borealis_. As soon as we boarded, I immediately loosened up, glad to once again be held up in the air by hydrium gas. I performed all the necessary checks, and then we were dumping our ballast and heading off into the deep blue night.


	2. Several Bombs Drop

Disclaimer - We don't own Airborn!  
Note - Collaboration with Strawberry-Chappy Forever

Chapter 2 - Several Bombs Drop

Wallace was a surprisingly good navigator, despite his considerable bulk and frightening demeanor. His rough fingers charted our path with a practiced ease, and I began to trust him a bit more. After all, anyone who could navigate like that couldn't be all bad, could he? I could tell that Grey was nervous about the big man, but the girls didn't seem to mind his presence at all. Kate chatted away to him about possibly every topic known to man, and he just nodded and grunted in agreement every once in awhile. I don't think Maxine took notice of him at all.  
In almost no time at all, land was no longer in sight. The sun was just trying to push its way above the horizon, turning the clouds all shades of pink and orange. Of course, it wasn't anywhere near as wonderful as the night sky, but the view was still breathtaking. Looking out the window of the control room, Kate gasped in awe.  
"Have you ever seen such a beautiful sky?" she asked.  
I simply smiled and kept my eyes on the monitors. I'd seen better, but I didn't want to spoil her fun. Grey shared Kate's look of wonderment, and even Wallace looked out over the ocean with a look that wasn't nearly so sour as usual. Maxine, however, didn't even glance up from the small pocketwatch she was digging through with a screwdriver, some odd looking aviator's goggles plastered over her eyes. The girl's fingers were amazingly nimble as she fixed the old watch. I leaned over to watch her, still keeping one eye on the dials. When she finished fitting the gears back into the watch, she snapped the back of it shut, and reinserted a tiny screw that had held it in place. She looked over towards Wallace.  
"I fixed your watch." she said, holding out the timepiece. Just as she stepped forward to hand it to him, the newly greased watch slipped from her thin fingers. She made a wild grab, but missed, and it clattered to the floor. Falling to her knees, Maxine began to search the floor with her hands, seeking out the watch. I knelt behind her, and picked up the watch from where it had landed. Hearing the chain tinkle, she spun around.  
I handed it to her, saying, "Can't see much through those glasses, huh?" The glasses were tinted a very vivid shade of green, and scratched in places. She ducked her head, embarrassed, some of her short reddish hair falling from the thong she had pulled it back in.  
"S-sorry." she muttered, and turned to hand the watch to its rightful owner.  
Wallace took the watch in his hand and twisted the stem. A quiet ticking noise filled the cabin. "Good job." he rumbled, patting the girl on the head, nearly enveloping it in his enormous palm. This earned a small, embarrassed smile from the girl. Just as I was turning back to my dials, I glanced back at Maxine. There was something somewhat odd about the girl. Then it hit me. But, I couldn't say anything there, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings, especially in front of the others.  
After a while Maxine got up from her chair, muttered something about the bathroom, and left the control car. I hesitated. This might look odd to the others. After acting casual for a minute, I told Grey to 'Watch the instruments for me. I'll be right back.' He didn't question it at all. I slipped out the door, closing it behind me quietly. I strode down the hallway at brisk pace, making my way towards the head.  
Just outside the door, I stopped, waiting for her. When she emerged from the room, she stopped, and turned slightly towards me, frowning. Then she turned back to the hallway and began to make her way back to the stern.  
I cleared my throat. "Maxine." I said. The girl stopped dead in her tracks. Slowly, she turned. I saw the look on her face that she was trying to control. She was afraid of something. Of me. "Max." I said, using the nickname that Grey and Kate used for her, hoping to sound more friendly. Her shoulders relaxed a bit, but only a bit.  
I took a step forward. She took a step back, butting up against a wall.  
"Max," I said, "I'm your captain. You don't need to be afraid of me." A look of misery crossed her face before she controlled it. In the odd light of the corridor, I could see partially through her goggles. Her eyes were scared and unfocused. from what I could tell, they were a cloudy blue color. "Max," I asked in a serious tone. "are you blind?"  
The teenage girl slumped against the wall. "I-I..." She couldn't get the words out. I saw the look of her face, and knew what she was feeling. It was the same feeling that I had felt when I had come in as second choice for one of the first astralnauts. Her dreams were all being ripped away from her.  
"It's okay." I said quietly.  
"Wh-what?" stammered Max, uncomprehending.  
I put my hand on the girl's shoulder. "I said, 'It's okay.'. I still want you as a part of my crew."  
"But-" she sniffed, "but I'll just get in the way."  
"No you won't" I told her, "I've seen your skill level. And it's amazing. That pocketwatch you fixed ran perfectly." Pulling a handkerchief from my pocket, and held it out to her, then remembered the she couldn't see it, and pressed it into her hand.  
She pulled off the goggles and wiped her eyes. "You really still want me?" She asked.  
"Of course I do! Besides, if we had to backtrack to leave you back in Liongate the trip would take longer, and Kate would be probably kill me." I joked.  
Max cracked a smile. "Okay," she said.

* * *

When we arrived back at the control car, I knew that Grey, as well as Kate could tell what had happened.  
"So..." I said, "You knew too."  
"Yes." She admitted, looking down. "But it was a good thing. You wouldn't have let her on otherwise."  
"I would have!" I insisted. "I really would have!"  
Kate rolled her eyes. "Sure you would have."  
Wallace didn't seem at all surprised by the events.  
"Did YOU know too?" I asked, in exasperation.  
"I guessed." he grunted. "She has blind person's hands."  
I surveyed my traitorous crew. "Is there anything else I should know? Flat feet, hangnails..."  
"Well..." said Kate.  
That stopped me. I had meant it as a joke.  
"Matt." Kat said, taking both my hands in hers. Her hands were trembling slightly. She had a semi-anxious, but almost happy look about her.  
No. Oh no. Definitely not.  
"Matt, I'm pregnant." said my wife.


	3. Drawing a Blank

Disclaimer - Airborn doesn't belong to us~!  
Note - Collaboration with Strawberry-Chappy Forever

Chapter 3 - Drawing a Blank

"You-" I tried to say, "you...you're..." I didn't know whether to be delighted of horrified. What is someone supposed to do at a time like this, I asked my brain frantically. What do I say? My mind was drawing a huge blank. I felt lightheaded and floaty, but at the same time like I had a bull elephant sitting on my lungs. I tried to say something, but it came out more like a dying cat stuck inside a tuba. Kate was smiling sheepishly, and I was vaguely aware of Grey giving me a congratulatory clap on the shoulder.  
"Wow, Matt! you're gonna be a father!" He exclaimed.  
A father... My mind went from blank to an explosion of activity. A baby? That meant... Had we even talked about children? Children involved blankets and diapers and... had we even thought about names? Wait, slow down Matt, I told myself. That's a long way away.  
"How long have you known that you were..." I finally managed to say, when I realised something. "YOU. You planned this trip so I wouldn't make you relax and take it easy! You- you-" I spluttered frantically. "We're turning around!"  
"No way-!" yelled the rest of the company.  
"I need to research the cats," said Grey loudly, "so I can pay for Max's school!"  
"I need adventure before I'm tied down." Said Kate, sticking her nose in the air.  
"I need to make the money." grunted Wallace.  
"You promised I could be part of the crew!" Max protested.  
I stood there, outvoted. "But... it's dangerous!"  
Kate shot me a piercing look. "Like that's stopped me before."  
"But this is different! You're expecting!" I shouted.  
"We'll be back home far before anything even starts to be noticeable!" argued Kate.  
My twice traitorous crew stood, staring me down, arms folded, except for Max, who was looking slightly to my left.  
"We're going." Kate stated. It was an order, not a request.  
I gave her a sour look. "I have terms." I growled.  
"Such as?"  
"Don't be reckless. If I tell you to hide, hide. No risks for you. No arguments."  
"Fine." Kate said, grinning, and threw her arms around my neck.  
I hugged her closer to me. "Oh, Kate." I murmured "Why are you so stubborn?" I ran my fingers through her long auburn hair. Pigs would fly before my Kate stopped being the way she was.

* * *

The sky stayed beautiful and clear throughout the day and into the evening. The sun was sparkling in a dazzling display off the water and around a spray of tiny islands that dotted the horizon. Most of the crew was suppressing yawns. I should have really had shifts, I thought.  
Max stood beside be, surveying the seas through the window. She tugged on her ear nervously. "Um, Captain Cruse?"  
I started at the formality. "Please don't call me that." I protested. "It makes me feel old. Just call me Matt ?"  
She smiled crookedly. "Does something feel... wrong to you?"  
"Wrong how?" I asked. I had, in fact, been feeling a little weird, but I had just taken that as a sign of anxiety of flying my pregnant wife straight into danger.  
"I don't know, just... wrong." She said, still pulling on her earlobe.  
That struck me as odd. Her ear? ...The air pressure? I glanced over at the barometer mounted on the wall. It was much lower than I had thought. Checking the altimeter, I compared it with the barometer. It didn't match up as normal for this patch of the Pacificus. I leaned over and pressed the button to turn on the sonar sensor.  
BEEP...beep...BEEP...beep...  
It was at normal intervals, so I knew my altimeter wasn't malfunctioning, and the barometer couldn't be wrong, because, now that Max had pointed it out, I could feel the pressure on my eardrums as well.  
"You're right, there's definitely something weird." I raised my voice so that everyone could hear me. "Grey, can you check the crow's nest? Look for anything unusual." Grey nodded and left the room.  
About a minute later he was back, out of breath. "There are some wicked thunderheads back there." he gasped. "They're fast-moving and it doesn't look pretty."  
I swore under my breath. I should have hired on another person! The only ones of us without a jobs were either blind, or pregnant and too busy surveying the skies for our quarry, the cloud cats.  
"Grey, take the controls!" I shouted. The water underneath the ship was getting choppy. "Kate, get away from the windows!" before she could protest, I was gone, our the control room door, down the hall, and through another door marked 'catwalk' I fled across the steel grills that made up the skeleton of the Borealis. Reaching the ladder, I leapt onto it, skipping the first few rungs. In an instant, I was up inside the glass dome of the crow's nest. Looking towards the stern, there was nothing but clear skies, but the other was was an entirely different story.  
Practically jumping down the ladder, I sprinted back to the control car. "We've got to make it to one of those islands!" I shouted, reaching for the rudder controls.  
"There's a close one to starboard." said Grey.  
"Good." I said, pulling the levers to bring us around. "We'll have to tie off to those trees and rocks. As soon as we get close, we jump down and reel her in. The girls stay inside." I ordered. Not even Kate argued with that. "Vent to 90% hydrium in cells one and four." I told Grey.  
The Borealis headed at full speed towards the island.


End file.
